Update First Shipment from Forecariah

3 January 2013

Bellzone Mining plc

("Bellzone" or "the Company")

Bellzone announces first shipment of iron ore from Forecariah JV in Guinea

Bellzone Mining plc (AIM: BZM) is pleased to provide further information on the first shipment of iron ore from the 50:50 Forecariah joint venture (the "JV") operation in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa that was announced on 27 December 2012. This shipment is the first iron ore exported from Guinea since 1966.

Glenn Baldwin, Bellzone CEO said that the shipment was made in line with the Company's undertaking to the market that it would occur by the end of 2012."The operations had produced and moved enough ore to Konta to fill a large Cape sized vessel by the beginning of December 2012. However, we have been informed that the transhipping system did not perform as expected." he said.

The ship, a Panamax, left the coast off Konta Port in Guinea carrying some 63,000 tonnes of iron ore. In the short term, the transhipping performance will be addressed by chartering geared ships capable of loading from the barges while work continues to redesign and re-engineer the loading and offloading configuration.

Glenn Baldwin noted "We expect the re-engineering process to take at least six months. The use of geared ships is expected to increase the shipping costs.

The JV is fully funded and has the flexibility to adjust production and shipping to be self-sufficient from a cash perspective and optimise margins."

Bellzone's Joint Venture partners, China International Fund Limited ("CIF" 50%) commented that they are very pleased with the achievement of this important milestone.

A representative from CIF said that they were delighted to see the first shipment of iron ore from the Forecariah JV operation leave the port of Konta and are looking forward to seeing the operational activities go from strength-to-strength.

Glenn Baldwin said that the significance of the sailing of this first shipment cannot be underestimated and that it represents far more than the dollar value of its cargo.

"The sailing of this vessel demonstrates the fact that Bellzone has the capacity, with CIF and with the support of the Government of Guinea, to build roads, a port and a mine in Guinea; a country which is now once again an iron ore producer.

This export was achieved from a greenfields site within two years and is testament to our success in Guinea. The experience we have gained during this process will be invaluable as we look to our Kalia Project", he said.

Mr Baldwin said that the Forecariah JORC statement, completed in December, 2012 is currently under review by the JV management and that the Company expects to be in a position to release the statement to the market by mid-January, 2013.

 "The JV will use the Maiden JORC statement to develop a detailed production and shipping schedule in Q1, 2013 and we will release this to market in due course," he said. 

Enquiries:

Bellzone Mining plc

Peta Baldwin, Corporate Affairs +44 (0) 1534 834 698

Canaccord Genuity Limited

Nominated Adviser and Broker to Bellzone +44 (0)20 7523 8000

Andrew Chubb/Tarica Mpinga

Tavistock (UK)

Jos Simson/Mike Bartlett +44 (0)20 7920 3150 / +44 (0)7899 870 450

About Bellzone Mining Plc

Bellzone Mining plc is an exploration and resource development company with iron ore and nickel/copper permits in the Republic of Guinea, West Africa. Kalia Mine Project is the Company's flagship project with a globally significant magnetite resource of 4.63 billion tonnes and 87.5 million tonnes of direct shipping ore.

The Forécariah iron ore mine commenced production in May 2012 and is a joint venture between Bellzone (50%) and China International Fund Limited (50%).

www.bellzone.com